The Friday before Valentine’s Day seems like the opportune time to reflect on the beautiful institution known as marriage. Sadly, the definition of love and marriage has been on the decline for decades. Even back in 1984, Phyllis Schlafly was writing about this travesty. She wrote, “Sexual liberation taught men and women to seek temporary pleasures instead of a monogamous, lifetime commitment. Liberation advocates forgot to warn what an awful price would be paid by the children.”
As always, Phyllis Schlafly’s words cut straight to the heart of the problem. The so-called “liberation” of yesteryear is leaving millions of today’s children without the love of a mother and father in the same home. That much is undeniable. However, there is another hidden cost to sexual liberation. Although the movement may claim to provide happiness and fulfillment, it leaves a series of gaping wounds in the hearts of all who fall into its trap.
Liberation tries to divorce love from commitment, but that is impossible to do. True love requires commitment because true love requires sacrifice. If you claim to love someone but never look out for that person’s interests above your own, you are not really in love. God designed marriage to be a solemn commitment between man and woman to love and honor one another for life. The liberation movement could never compete with the depth and height of this kind of abiding love designed by God.
Traditional marriage is wonderful, mysterious, and fulfilling in a way that cannot be substituted, but conservatives don’t defend marriage because of platitudes that could be written on a greeting card. The loving care of a mother and father who are united in marriage is the very best care a child can receive.
When men and women embrace sexual liberation, they are putting their own temporary pleasures ahead of their children. Children need a mother and father full-time. They don’t need a mother during the week and a father on the weekend. They don’t need two mothers or two fathers. They need the love that only a traditional family can provide. I hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day. Let’s celebrate the glorious institution of traditional marriage.
